


SpiritSweepers-Season 1

by The_Shipper_Of_Heart



Series: SpiritSweepers [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Gen, Ghostbusters AU, M/M, Other, Shenanigans, sburb didn't happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 16:33:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7648390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shipper_Of_Heart/pseuds/The_Shipper_Of_Heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the city, there are four trolls known as the SpiritSweepers, alongside their snarky secretary. Their job consists of cleaning the area of the supernatural forces. In their downtime, shenanigans can and probably will ensue, as well as relationships with one another forming.  Rated T for some slight horror/relationship stuff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	SpiritSweepers-Season 1

_ Brrrriinnnggg _

 

“SpiritSweepers, if it goes boo, they’ll tell ‘em to shoo. What can I do for ya?”

 

Kakat Vantas answered the call, with a frantic voice on the other line. He kept calm and took notes. “Mhm...okay whats the address...mhm.. I see… yep.. They’re on the way.” As he hung up, Eridan Ampora came striding in, fiddling with some of the equipment. 

 

“Wwe got a call hm?”

 

The look Karkat gave him was the obvious look of “Yes you freaking moron”. Eridan nodded and banged his fist on the alarm as he walked past. A light flashed throughout the building, alerting the rest of the team that it was time to get moving.

 

Gamzee Makara looked up from his laptop. The forums would have to wait, he thought. It was go time.. He finished putting on the rest of his white face paint and hurled himself out of his room, running down the hall. This was the first call in some time. More than likely it was yet another prank call by the neighborhood human kids, or a false alarm as some old lady mistook  her curtains blowing in the wind for a ghost.

 

Nepeta Leijon was sketching out things and typing away. She was trying to make a book about the different types of ghost, their molecular levels, and what sort of abilities they had plus the damage they could make. At some point she was going to make an online guide so their calls about wild spirits could be more thorough and precise. Many times they came prepared for the worst, when the “danger” would be a harmless wanderer. The siren made her jump a bit, but she quickly tucked away the book and headed down the hall.

 

Then there was Equius Zahhak, the leader of them all. He was taking yet another shower after his fifth workout of the day. Lucky for him, well, pretty much the entire team, he was finishing getting dressed when he heard the alarm. He quickly finished up and headed out. He thought he’d have more time than this. There hadn’t been a call in several days, which gave the whole team freetime. However, Equius wanted all of them to keep busy and not just dawdle. They couldn’t be lollygagging and have an emergency come forward.

 

Eridan was already sitting in the van’s driver side, waiting for the rest of the crew to pile on in. He was punching the address Karkat gave him into the enhanced GPS he had modified when the others piled in like the place was on fire. Gamzee leapt into the passenger side and Equius and Nepeta took their place in the backseat. “‘Bout time.” The impatient seadweller muttered as he sped out of the garage, flying down the road.

 

~~~

A couple hours later, the four pulled back in. Karkat glanced up from his reading material and examined the mess the crew had become. A couple tears in their uniforms, guns smoking, a bit of scrapes here and there, nothing out of the ordinary. He looked back down and continued reading. “Legit call this time?” He asked. He knew Eridan was giving him the same exact look he himself had given to the seadweller just hours ago. Eridan heaved a sigh and flopped down on Karkat, making the mutant blooded secretary drop his book.

 

“Karrr, today was soooo hectic. Wwould you mind making us some cool drinks?” Eridan asked in his over-the-top drama voice, flashing his trademark smirk. He yelped as Karkat socked him in the arm, then in the leg.

 

“Oh good, no broken bones.. Make ‘em yourself ya dork.” Karkat said in his playful angered voice. He picked up the novel once more and flipped to where he left off. Eridan got off him and grumbled to the kitchen. Gamzee followed him in, all that running had made him hungry.

 

Equius was about to join them, but then he looked over to Nepeta, who was quietly hanging up her equipment and jacket. Something was wrong. The whole way there she was either going on about how excited she was over a call and wondering what kind of ghost it was this time, then poking fun at him for taking yet another shower. But, the whole way back she was quiet, staring out the window and barely talking to any of them, making the occasional “mhm” sound and looking down at her sketchbook. Equius thought back to the time between the way there and back. The bust had been successful, she should’ve been happy about it. Sure, she had been knocked down a few times, but she got right back up and kept going.

 

Didn’t she?

 

He watched as she quietly went up the stairs, most likely headed to her room. He hesitated at first, but Equius quietly followed her. Not only was he the leader of the team, but he was her moirail. If something was wrong, it was his job to find out what.

 

Nepeta was at her desk, looking at the blank computer screen in front of her, waiting for her to type up a storm. Usually she logged whatever encounter they had and what type of ghosts they had swept, but this time...she just couldn’t bring herself to writing. She closed the laptop and flopped down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes followed the fan hanging above her until she felt dizzy. She took the framed photo from her bedside and smiled at it. Even though today was bad, one thing always made her smile.

 

“Nepeta? Is everything alright?”

 

The olive blooded sat up startled, shoving the frame under her pillow. Hopefully, whoever was there didn’t see. Her head turned to the door. “Equius..” she let out a sigh. “Yeah, e-furry- thing’s okay...why?” She could see him smile for a moment at the pun, but then his expression then turned back to one of concern.

 

“You were quiet the whole way back, I noticed..Is it alright if I come in?” Equius asked, a bit nervously. Nepeta smiled a bit. He was way too proper. She had told him many times he was always allowed in, and yet he insisted on being properly invited in.  The blue blooded troll sat next to her on the bed, showing a bit more concern. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

 

She looked away from his gaze. “No.. just...well.” She turned to look at him. “Equius, do you think the team would be better off without me?” Her question was met with a shocked and slightly hurt look. “It’s just that today was a disaster! I almost let the spirit get away, I kept slipping up, I almost got Eridan hurt, I misidentified what kinda ghost we were facing..” She hid her face in a pillow. “I was a disaster..I’m always a disaster.It was you three that got the mission done. I was just a hazard.”

 

She felt a hand touch her shoulder. “Nepeta, listen to me. You are in no way a disaster or a hazard. You are a valuable member of this team.”  Equius encouraged her. “We all have our place on this team. We all have our off days and mess ups. We can’t do this without one another.” He hated to see his moirail upset and unsure of herself. He wanted every member of this team in good spirits and with high confidence. If anything, he doubted his own leadership skills constantly. He looked as she raised her face from the pillow, looking back at him. He smiled at her, but she couldn’t return the warm affection.

 

“I don’t know.. I just feel the team would be better off if I didn’t join. I mean, what do I contribute” She lamented. “You’re the leader and the muscle of the team, Eridan’s the one with all the science mumbo jumbo and takes care of the technology, Gamzee is the one who always raises our spirits when things get tense and knows his way around the city.” She sat up and looked down at the floor. “I’m sure Eridan’s got the technology to identify ghosts better than I can, even Karkat contributes more, taking all the calls and helping out in pretty much every way..”

 

“Nepeta..”Equius began, but the moirail just kept looking at the ground. He didn’t want to bother her anymore. He stood up and headed for the door, looking back at the girl before heading back downstairs. Nepeta looked at the doorway and took out the photo from under her pillow. She looked at it for a few moments before putting it back at her bedside with a sigh. Everything she told him, she really meant it. She did feel like a useless member. Everyone had that one special aspect apart from her.

~~~

A couple days went by with by with no calls. Everyone got back into their usual routine. Everyone except Equius and Nepeta. Neither forgot about what had happened, and it was bugging the both of them. Nepeta tried to act happy, but he could see right through her, and he wasn’t sure how to help her. Equius tried to act like nothing wrong, but she knew something was wrong, and she caused it. The rest of the crew noticed them, but didn’t want to make things worse. Before Karkat was able to corner Equius and ask what was going on, a familiar tone rang throughout the place. 

 

“Hello, Spiritsweepers. If something creeps you out, they’ll care of it without a doubt, what’s the trouble?” The guys crowded around Karkat as he wrote on his notepad, giving out the occasional “uh-huh” and “calm down, repeat that please.” Before Karkat could hang up, Gamzee took the paper from the notepad and looked at the address. 

 

“I know where this it, I’ll drive.” He said as the three hurried to get the equipment. Eridan passed by Nepeta on the way out.

 

“Nep, wwe got a call. Get movin’!” He said. But, the olive blood just stayed in her spot, looking dejected.

 

“I..I think I’ll sit this one out.” Nepeta quietly spoke, looking at the shocked seadweller. “Sorry, Eridan. I’m just not feeling up to it.” Before Eridan could object and tell her the basic “too bad”, Equius stopped him and nodded for him to kept going. Eridan rolled his eyes and headed out. The two moirails looked at one another with an expression of slight hurt, before Equius looked away and kept going. He was not about to push Nepeta to do something she didn’t want to do, but he did want all members included. Overall, it was her choice. She wasn’t doing it to spite them, she was in a state of uncertainty. He wasn’t going to make things better by forcing her.

 

~~~

 

When the Sweepers minus one arrived, their trackers began to go off, signaling spiritual presence nearby. Eridan took out his tracker, a bit puzzled. “Wwell, it’s pickin’ up many forces.” He explained to the other two. “But they dont seem like very tough forces.” He smiled and put the tracker back in its holster. “This is gonna be easy.” Even though the task was going to be small, they still couldn’t help but feel empty. Well, her loss. They could get a job done with one less member. It would take more time, but hey, all in the job.

 

Oh how wrong they were.

 

It turned out, to their surprise. There were two types of ghosts on the premises. Everything they busted one type, two more of the other would appear, and each time they busted the other type, the first type would combine to make a larger ghost. The task was beginning to wear the three of them out as well as overwhelm them. It shouldn’t of been this difficult. One less person would mean more effort was expected out of the three, not make the job impossible.

 

Or did it? Equius could only think of only one thing to do.

 

“Spiritsweepers, if they’re a-haunting, its a task they’re a- wanti-” Karkat was cut off in his delivery. “Equius?!”. This made Nepeta perk up. Why was he calling? Eh, maybe they just had a flat tire or something. The job should’ve been over by now. She eavesdropped from the doorway. “Uh huh…  _ how many?!  _  Holy crap man..mhm...You think so? Yeah..okay man, I’ll get on it.” Karkat looked over to the troll, a bit worried. “Equius said this job is getting rough. Apparently ghosts are splitting into two and  merging into one...something like that.” He stood and put his hand on the doubting troll’s shoulder. “Come on, Nepeta. They need you. If you don’t go now, they could be stuck there, or get overthrown. Someone has to do something.”

 

Nepeta thought for a minute, pulling out her sketchbook and thumbing through the pages. This sounded familiar. She finally landed upon the ghosts she was looking for, one type on the left page, one type on the other. But, the guys were smart. They should know how to take care of these types...but it wouldn’t hurt to go down there. She packed away her book and put on her jacket. The van of course wasn’t available, and running was no option. She had one option left.

 

Before the troll knew it, she was flying down the road on her olive green moped. Her team, no, her friends needed her.

 

~~~

 

The indigo, violet, and purple trolls had been backed into a corner, the ghosts surrounding them. No matter how many times they fired at them, more ghosts would appear or stronger ones would take their place. It all seemed hopeless. They were ready to call it quits. But, just before they could do so…

 

The front door was kicked open, standing there was a small-statured troll in SpiritSweepers uniform, ghost gun in hand. She was Nepeta Freaking Leijon, and she meant business. She saw the rest of the team cornered. She aimed at one of the larger, combining-type ghosts and fired with one hand, stunning it while her free hand reached for the trapper attached behind her. She tossed it under the larger ghost and opened it up, sucking the ghost in, the lid snapping shut and blinking a neon yellow light, signaling the ghost was in there. She started to stun a couple more while the three male trolls, armed with their guns, got out of the corner and went to assist their friend.

“Nepeta..you..”Equius began, she looked over and smiled. That was all he needed. She explained to them she had seen these types of ghosts before, as they usually work together. It was better to deal with the combining types first. Yes, the multiplying ones were a nuisance, but the split caused the first ghost’s power level to split in half, multiplying meant many weaker ghosts, which could all be picked up at once with their beams. The combining ones on the other hand merged their power levels to make bigger, stronger, spiritual beings, they had to be dealt with first.

 

~~~

It was over, the four trolls walked out of the house, guns and trappers smoking after the long fight. The owners repeatedly thanked them as a reporter asked Gamzee and Eridan a bunch of questions about. Equius looked over to Nepeta, who was leaning against her moped and jotting down some more notes. He joined her over and smiled. “So, still feel like you aren’t a valuable member?”

 

She looked up from her book and smiled shyly. “Well, it sounded like you guys really needed help. I mean, I’m sure you could’ve done it without-”

 

“No we couldn’t of.” Equius interrupted her. “If it weren’t for your knowledge on ghosts we’d still be stuck in there.” The two shared a smile before noticing Gamzee and Eridan heading for the van. “Well, I guess we’ll meet you back home, hm?” As Equius walked to the van, Nepeta called to him. As he turned back to her, he was tossed a deep blue helmet.

 

Nepeta revved up the moped, putting her green helmet on. “Only if you want,” She smiled at him.

 

“Alright, but I’m driving.”


End file.
